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Celtics Flirting with Trouble, What's up with Scar, and another Lakers heist.

Programming Note: There will be no newsletter next Friday, I’ll be away all week. The Celtics had a 3-0 week heading into last night’s game with the Mavericks, but it was by no means easy. Despite being a few games off of last year’s pace, it still does feel like the only team that can beat them is themselves. They play to the level of their competition, more often than not. This was on display…

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A First Look at the 2025 Patriots Coaching Staff

The new coaching staff of the Patriots is taking shape. With the exception of Special Teams coordinator Jeremy Springer and his assistant Tom Quinn, as well as offensive assistant Ben McAdoo, the coaching staff of the New England Patriots will be entirely different this coming season. No other coaches from last season will return besides those three. I’m a bit disappointed that Mike Pellegrino…

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Minihane, McDaniels, and More

Kirk Minihane, Patriots Insider It’s been quite a month for Kirk Minihane. The former WEEI morning host turned Barstool Sports podcaster has had three of the biggest Patriots stories this month before anyone else, and stood behind them even when Patriots reporters said he was wrong. Vrabel was announced as the Patriots next coach on January 12th After Albert Breer and Ben Volin said this…

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Collaboration Over, Vrabel in Charge

The Patriots wasted no time in moving forward after the dismal 2024 season. Just a week after Jerod Mayo’s dismissal, the team introduced Mike Vrabel as their new head coach—a move that promises a do-over for the post Belichick era in New England. After the complete disaster that was 2024 for the New England Patriots, the hiring of Vrabel gives fans a boost heading into a new year. He hit all…

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Patriots at Another Crossroads

I had a bunch of stuff compiled up today, but it didn’t quite seem to all fit together, so I’ve put it aside for now, it may emerge in another edition of the newsletter. Apologies for the lateness on this, I needed to start from scratch. I had my doubts that it would happen, but Robert Kraft actually went ahead and ended the Jerod Mayo experiment after a single season. It was obvious to anyone…

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A Year in Review: BSMW Newsletter 2024

As we look back on the inaugural year of the BSMW.email newsletter, it’s clear that 2024 was a transformative year for Boston sports in many ways. From seismic shifts in the Patriots organization to the Celtics 18th NBA title, our coverage aimed to provide insightful commentary and analysis on the ever-changing landscape of Boston sports and media. This end of the year newsletter is free for all…

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Will Anyone Admit Robert Kraft Screwed Up By Firing Bill Belichick?

As we’ve reached the Patriots’ bye week, Robert Kraft’s decision to part ways with Bill Belichick is increasingly looking like a terrible move. (Some of us knew that from the start.) As the season progresses, the consequences of this choice are becoming more apparent, suggesting that the Krafts definitely acted too soon in dismissing their long-time coach. Now, if you know me at all, you know…

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Celtics/Cavs an Early Season Treat

This week in Boston sports: Celtics triumph: Hand Cleveland Cavaliers their first loss in a 120-117 thriller Jayson Tatum shines: 33 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists against the Cavs Ownership meddling: Reports of Krafts seeking external QB development advice Patriots puzzles: Rookie coach Jerod Mayo’s questionable in-game decisions Communication breakdown: OC Alex Van Pelt unaware of…

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Patriots Show Signs of Competence(?!)

After losing games to the 3-6 Dolphins, the 3-7 Jets, the 2-7 Titans and the 2-8 Jaguars the Patriots finally took advantage of team in turmoil and beat the Bears in Chicago 19-3 last Sunday. If the Patriots could’ve won just two of those four games above, they’d be at .500 at 5-5 and conversation about the team might be quite different. The game in Chicago was encouraging on a number of fronts,…

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Disappointing Results

The latest matchup between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors delivered on entertainment, even if the end result was not what Celtics fans wanted. Wednesday night, in his first game against Warriors head coach Steve Kerr since the summer Olympics, Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 32 points. He didn’t force things, and didn’t engage with the revenge narrative pushed by fans and media.…

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Celtics Early Season Issues Magnified in Loss to Pacers. Huh?

In a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics were trailing by 21 with under nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. They stormed all the way back on the road in Indiana to force overtime, only to lose by three after a ridiculous performance from Pascal Siakam. It was the Celtics first loss of the season, and they nearly pulled out a win. Here’s how the Globe headlined…

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Celtics Raise Banner 18, Patriots Drama Continues

After an ignominious end to the season for the Red Sox, and a historically bad start to the season for the Patriots, Tuesday night’s Celtics season opener with the ring ceremony and banner raising couldn’t have come at a better time. It didn’t disappoint. From seeing the journey from the start with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, to seeing Al Horford get his ring, and seeing Bob Cousy, at 96,…

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Mazz: Whoops, I did it again

For someone who insists he is a firm believer in “racial and social equality”, Tony Massarotti is building quite a history of saying racist things while on the air. Massarotti has already been suspended once, back in February of 2023: Felger was broadcasting from New Orleans, when Massarotti said on-air that Felger should watch two Black people behind him. He told his co-host that they might…

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Patriots QB Change: What to Expect from Drake Maye

It was leaked early in the week that the Patriots were going to be making a change at QB, with veteran Jacoby Brissett heading to the bench following the team’s 15-10 loss at home to the struggling Miami Dolphins. Rookie Drake Maye will make his first NFL start on Sunday against an impressive Houston Texans defense. It made little sense for the news to be leaked out early in the week Mike Reiss…

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Patriots Latest Taping Scandal Raises Questions

Short version this week, available to all, as home renovations, some controversy at work, and scheduling changes have conspired against me. Teetering on Mutiny? Yesterday on the team’s Catch 22 Podcast co-host Evan Lazar made the remark that the team was “teetering on mutiny in that locker room”. The statement got noticed, and then curiously, the podcast was taken down, and was unavailable for…

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Does Bill Belichick Need To Be Accountable For How Things Ended in New England?

It was an odd segment. Mike Reiss saying that Bill Belichick needed to be accountable for his last two years in New England before he could take him seriously as an analyst. I wanted to make sure I had the context, so I went back and listened to the segment. It was even worse than I thought. It came out of a discussion from Bertrand and Zolak who were saying that because Belichick had said…

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“I kind of spoke too soon” - the Jerod Mayo Story

Earlier this month, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo made the following statement to reporters. This was not the first time something like this had happening with Mayo, and it certainly wasn’t the last. It’s become a pattern. While the first year coach definitely should be allowed a learning curve, you would think observing Bill Belichick over the last 16 years would have given Mayo some insight…